1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orifice surface provided with a coating. The present invention further relates to a print head comprising such nozzle surface and to a printing apparatus comprising said print head. In addition, the present invention relates to a method for forming an orifice surface.
2. Description of Background Art
In a known print head, the print head comprises a surface having arranged therein at least one nozzle. Ink is ejected from the print head through said nozzle. When printing, ink may be spilled on the nozzle surface of the print head. Ink present on the nozzle surface close to a nozzle may have a negative influence on the performance of a print head during jetting of the ink. Therefore, it is important to prevent presence of contaminants, such as ink, on the nozzle surface close to a nozzle.
It is known to prevent ink to be present close to a nozzle by applying an anti-wetting coating around a nozzle. This prevents the formation of an ink film. Instead, ink that comes into contact with the anti-wetting coating will form a droplet, having a relatively small contact area with the coating.
An example of a specific type of anti-wetting coatings are known e.g. from U.S. Application Publication No. 2011/0074880. In U.S. Application Publication No. 2011/0074880, a nozzle plate provided with a coating is described, wherein the coating is bonded to the nozzle plate through a silicon-carbon bond. This type of coating has high resistance against both alkali and acidic solutions. This is useful, for example when alkali or acidic inks are jetted by the print head provided with the nozzle plate. Further, ink compositions may comprise solid particles, for example polymeric particles and/or pigments. Particles present in the ink may cause fouling of the nozzle surface, for example when ink on the nozzles surface dries. Fouling of the nozzle surface by solid particles on the nozzle surface may negatively influence the jetting of droplets. Therefore, it is preferred that fouling of the nozzle surface is prevented. Fouling of the nozzle surface may be diminished or even prevented by providing the nozzle surface with a suitable anti-fouling coating. However, with respect to the coatings according to U.S. Application Publication No. 2011/0071880, there is room for improvement of the anti-fouling properties.